Sebastian Vettel has his fingers crossed for rain on Sunday as he believes it offers the only chance for Red Bull to beat Mercedes.
Despite better pace during practice, which saw Vettel’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo just a tenth off Lewis Hamilton’s best, the German reckons catching up in the dry won’t be possible, but it could be a different story if it rains – which it’s forcecast to do.
“Hockenheim is certainly one I want to tick off the list,” said Vettel. “Maybe it rains on Sunday, that could help us. In dry conditions it could still be difficult to catch the Mercedes.”
Vettel thinks the midfield is now closer, partly thanks to the higher temperatures, but he reckons Red Bull will be battling with both Williams and Ferrari too in Germany.
“It looks like [we’re second quickest]. Daniel had a better run on the new tyre, on the new supersoft, so I think we are a bit closer than previous weekends, but I think it will be close between us, Williams and Ferrari as well.
“It’s not so easy to manage the tyres on the long run. I still think we have more to improve for tomorrow.””
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